Abid, Bollywood Trade News Network

Last week's releases went as per our predictions. Imtiaz Ali's Shahid-Kareena starrer, JAB WE MET, got the benefit of a very popular music by Pritam and all the publicity that the lead pair got. Still, the opening has not been as spectacular across India as is being publicised. The first day in Bombay saw a fair start, though a pick up at the multiplexes was noticed by the evening. Outside of Bombay, the opening was quite good in some cities like Delhi, Jaipur and Gurgaon but was below the mark at places like Lucknow, Jodhpur and Indore. However given the below 10 crore budget, and the expected multiplex patronization at big centres, JAB WE MET looks on course to be a successful film. The movie has also started on a bright note in the UK, grossing a healthy $319,992, during the first weekend itself.

The other major release, NO SMOKING, was off to a very poor opening in Bombay and by and large the opening was horrifyingly weak everywhere. The Anurag Kashyap directed film is too abstract for the audience to understand and is going to bomb miserably.

The remaining two releases, MUMBAI SALSA and BAL GANESH too embarked on a weak to poor start and their prospects look bleak, despite being decently made ventures.

Dull pre-'Diwali' days have resulted in another casualty and it is Vikram Bhatt's (producer) Zayed, Urmila, Aashish, Sanjay and Aftab starrer, SPEED. The poor collections tell the whole story. In its opening week, SPEED collected 22 lakhs from Bombay, 7 lakhs from Ahmedabad, 6 lakhs from Delhi city, 1 lakh from Gurgaon and Indore, 1.40 lakhs from Noida, 2 lakhs from Nagpur, 1.90 lakhs from Jaipur, 6.40 lakhs from Hyderabad and 1.15 lakhs from Aurangabad. During the first week, SPEED managed just about a crore from India and needless to say that it is a trade disaster.

Any chance of a recovery in the second week by Yash Raj's Jaya, Rani, Konkona, Kunal and Abhishek (extended special appearance) starrer, LAAGA CHUNARI MEIN DAAG, disappeared as the already beleaguered movie took a sharp fall (barring Calcutta) everywhere. The movie collected 83 lakhs from Bombay, 16.50 lakhs from Ahmedabad, 2.50 lakhs from Rajkot, 1.50 lakhs from Jamnagar and Nasik, 54.60 lakhs from Delhi city, 4.40 lakhs from Gurgaon, 3.60 lakhs from Faridabad, 6.80 lakhs from Noida, 3 lakhs from Kaushambi, 9.25 lakhs from Lucknow, 1 lakh from Moradabad, 1.50 lakhs from Aligarh, 1.65 lakhs from Guwahati, 79 lakhs from Calcutta, 2.40 lakhs from Nagpur, 4.70 lakhs from Indore, 11 lakhs from Jaipur, 9 lakhs from Hyderabad and 1 lakh from Aurangabad. During the week, LAAGA CHUNARI MEIN DAAG obtained around 5.50 crores for a two week all-India total of 17 crores from India. The movie has flopped in India. In the Overseas, the movie is doing hit business in UK grossing $1,271,664 but is comparatively quite ordinary in the US with $651,836.

Coming to T-Series' Priyadarshan directed Akshay, Shiney, Vidya, Amisha and Rajpal starrer, BHOOL BHULAIYAA, the film maintained quite well in the second week, despite a noticeable fall in the week days. During the week, BHOOL BHULAIYAA collected 2.61 crores from Bombay, 54 lakhs from Ahmedabad, 2.35 lakhs from Mehsana, 1.50 lakhs from Patan, 1.40 lakhs from Palanpur, 1.85 lakhs from Himmatnagar, 2.50 lakhs from Valsad, 4.25 lakhs from Jamnagar, 4 lakhs from Bhavnagar, 1.25 lakhs each from Porbandar and Surendranagar, 9.15 lakhs from Rajkot, 1 lakh from Dwarka, 2.10 lakhs from Gandhidham and Solapur, 1.20 lakhs from Adipur, 6.40 lakhs from Nasik, 1.46 crores from Delhi city, 13.85 lakhs from Gurgaon, 10.65 lakhs from Faridabad, 1.20 lakhs from Panipat, 19.50 lakhs from Noida, 9.40 lakhs from Kaushambi, 5.50 lakhs from Meerut, 24.40 lakhs from Lucknow, 4 lakhs from Moradabad, 1.40 lakhs from Bareilly, 1.35 lakhs from Aligarh, 1 lakh from Mathura, 1.28 crores from Calcutta, 15.15 lakhs from Nagpur, 3 lakhs from Jabalpur, 2.60 lakhs from Amravati, 1.75 lakhs from Akola, 2 lakhs from Raipur, 1.60 lakhs from Chandrapur, 1.50 lakhs from Bhopal, 1.10 lakhs from Ujjain, 14.25 lakhs from Indore, 5.45 lakhs (gross) from Ajmer, 2 lakhs from Bikaner, 2.15 lakhs from Aurangabad and 27.60 lakhs from Hyderabad. With another 15.60 crores, BHOOL BHULAIYAA gets to around 41 crores in two weeks from India and is in the hit plus category. Even in the Overseas, BHOOL BHULAIYAA is a good hit, grossing $1,271,664 in the UK and $1,069,952 in the US.

Coming to DHAMAAL, the movie added another 20 lakhs for a seven week all-India total of 30.60 crores and is now a clean hit in India. DHAMAAL is also a good average in the UK with $464,752.

Yash Raj's Shah Rukh Khan-Vidya Malvade starrer, CHAK DE! INDIA, collected about 25 lakhs during the eleventh week, taking the net all-India collections to 64.75 crores and is into the all time blockbusters list. CHAK DE! INDIA is also a hit in the Overseas, grossing $1,120,404 from the US and $867,265 from UK.